The heavy door fell shut with a loud click. Mary listened for movement in the old house. Everything was quiet.

“Grandma?” she called out, walking through the dark hallway.

“In here,” her grandmother replied.

Mary smiled in relief. It sounded like her grandma was in the living room. Sure enough, she found Elza on the couch, with her reading glasses on the tip of her nose and newspapers scattered across the floor.

“Hey,” Mary said, “What are you doing?”

Elza looked up. Her glasses were covered in finger smudges, Mary noticed.

“I’m reading last month’s papers,” Elza replied.

Mary stepped over a pile of old newspapers and sat down in the wicker chair next to the coffee table. “I don’t understand why you keep doing that.”

“Doing what?” her grandma asked, folding the paper and placing it on top of yet another different pile.

“Reading old newspapers,” Mary said.

“You know I don’t like to let things go to waste,” Elza answered, taking off her glasses. Her white hair was even more tousled than usual.

Mary decided there was no use trying to make her point again. They had had this discussion numerous times before.

“I have some news,” she announced, a little nervously.

Elza reached for the cup of tea on the coffee table. “Oh? Tell me all about it!”

Mary fidgeted with the sleeve of her favorite turtle neck sweater. “I got offered a promotion.”

“That’s good news, right?” her grandmother asked.

“Yes,” Mary chuckled, “It’s great news.”

Elza brightened. “Congratulations then!” Her watery, green eyes twinkled with excitement.

“Thank you,” Mary beamed.

Her grandmother raised her cup of tea in the air. “To you!”

Mary didn’t have a glass to raise, so she nodded with a grin.

“Drat, it’s cold,” Elza said after taking a sip, frowning.

“When did you make it?” Mary giggled.

“A few hours ago,” her grandma said and shrugged. She took another sip.

Mary was about to ask if she should go make some new tea, but decided against it. She wanted to talk to her grandmother now that she had the chance.

“I‘m not sure I should take the job,” she confessed.

Elza tilted her head. “Oh?”

Mary sighed and shifted in her seat. “I would have to leave my store.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

Mary pulled her sweater up to her nose, hiding behind the dark blue wool. “Maybe?”

“Where would they send you?” Elza inquired, drinking more cold tea.

Mary frowned. “Our headquarters in Manhattan?” she replied hesitantly.

Elza waved in relief. “I thought you would have to move to another city.”

Mary shook her head. “No, no, the office is right here. Don’t worry.”

“Good,” Elza nodded.

Mary and her grandmother shared a house. She lived in the basement apartment and her grandmother occupied the rest of the large brownstone. It was an arrangement that worked well for both of them.

Elza had company and a tenant she could trust. Mary, in turn, didn’t have to cough up much in the way of rent. She also adored her grandmother and was grateful to see her so often.

Elza moved a pile of newspapers to the side. “What’s the problem then?”

“I don’t know,” Mary admitted, “I’ve been to the corporate office a few times and …”  She stopped to think, still unsure why she wasn’t over the moon about this promotion.

“I guess I’m not sure I’m a good fit for that kind of environment?” she finally said, her voice in a higher pitch than usual.

Her grandmother put down the cup of tea. “Why wouldn’t you be?”

Mary sighed. She tugged at the bottom of her sweater and took in a deep breath.

“The people working at headquarters,” she croaked, “They’re all so sophisticated and businessy, you know?”

Elza snorted. “You mean they’re stuffy?”

Mary ran a hand through her hair. “Maybe? But I won’t fit in, you know? I’ll never be able to be like them.”

Her grandmother’s eyebrows shot up. She wagged a finger at Mary. “You better not become like them.”

Mary giggled. “Grandma, I’m being serious. I don’t have a degree in business and …”

Elza interrupted her. “You’re great at what you do, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am,” Mary replied without hesitation.

“Then those psychopaths will be lucky to have you,” her grandma declared.

“What?” Mary laughed, confused. “Psychopaths?”

Elza raised her finger again. “I recently read that many CEO’s are full-blown psychopaths. You don’t make it that far without being a bit crazy, apparently.”

Mary’s lips parted. She had gotten used to her grandma’s weird comments, but sometimes Elza still took her by surprise. You never quite knew what was coming.

“There was a whole article in the newspaper about it,” her grandmother continued. “I can try to find it for you.”

Mary shook her head slowly. “No, that’s okay.”

Elza scooted closer to Mary, placing a hand on her knee.

“Honey, don’t question yourself like this. If you want this job because you think you’ll enjoy it, just accept it. You’ve earned it. If you would rather stay at the store, do that. It’s up to you,” she said, lifting her shoulders.

Mary looked down at her grandma’s hand. She smiled at the sight of the wrinkled skin, the blue veins, the age spots.

“Okay,” she said. “I think I will take the job then.”

Elza squeezed her knee. “Good for you.”

“I am going to miss my team at the shop, though,” Mary pouted.

“I think it’s good you’ll spend less time with them. You can find some real friends,” her grandmother stated sternly.

Mary’s eyes widened. “What?!”

Elza pushed herself up slowly. “People outside of work. You never see anyone who doesn’t work at the store.” She looked around the room, pursing her lips.

Mary fiddled with the little ring in her ear. The remark hurt, but her grandma did have a point. Most of her friends were also co-workers.

“I have Tai Chi in the morning,” Elza announced, picking up a pile of newspapers. “I think I’ll read these in bed.”

“I need to get some sleep too,” Mary mumbled, getting to her feet.

“Good night, honey,” her grandma said, switching off the reading light next to the couch.

“Night, grandma.”  

Mary knew full well she wouldn’t go to bed any time soon.

*****

**DAY 2 AM**

“Okay, here we go,” Mary said out loud even though she was alone in her small office at the store. She took another gulp of her coffee before she reached for her phone.

Mary had spent most of the night weighing the pros and cons of Hannah’s offer. And to be honest: there weren’t many cons. Yes, she would miss her team, but there was no reason she couldn’t still meet up with them after work.

The financial proposal Hannah had sent her had far surpassed Mary’s expectations. But it wasn’t about the money for Mary. It was about what she would be able to do for Leroy Chocolates.

Hannah had included a short description of the new role. It fit Mary like a glove. It truly was the promotion of a lifetime. The only thing that scared her, was joining the corporate team. That would take some adjustment.

Talking to her grandma had helped, though. Elza’s words had reminded Mary it was okay to be herself. And maybe Mary’s style was precisely what Leroy Chocolates needed? Hadn’t Hannah said she wanted to change some things?

Mary tapped Hannah’s name on the screen and raised the phone to her ear. She had been rehearsing what she would say for hours now. As soon as she heard the phone ring, though, her mind went blank.

“Good morning, Mary,” Hannah yelled.

Mary could hear traffic in the background. “Sorry, am I calling too early?” she asked, regretting her decision to call first thing.

“Absolutely not,” Hannah replied. “I’m just walking to the office.”

“Oh, okay,” Mary stammered, “I do that too.” 

Oh lord, what was she saying? She scolded herself inwardly.

But Hannah went along with it. “You do? How long is the walk?”

Mary rubbed her temple. “About 35 minutes.”

“I guess that’s doable,” Hannah replied cheerfully. “It’s good to get some fresh air in the morning, isn’t it? Clears the mind.”

“Eh, yes,” Mary said. She glanced at the closed door. “I’m calling about the job offer,” she blurted out.

A car was honking on Hannah’s side of the line. “Oh for fuck’s sake, it’s a crosswalk,” Hannah shouted.

Mary pressed her ear against the phone. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, just some idiot,” Hannah said, raising her voice for the last word as if the driver could still hear her.

Mary cleared her throat. “So, I’m calling about the job offer?” she tried again.

“Yes! Did you get my proposal?”

Mary crossed her legs. “Yes, thank you.”

“Honey, sorry, can you grab me one of those?” Hannah asked.

“Excuse me?” Mary replied, before realizing her boss wasn’t talking to her. She facepalmed.

“Sorry, I guess I’m not very good at multitasking while walking,” Hannah joked.

Mary was suddenly convinced it would be better to hang up and have this conversation later in the day. “Maybe I should call back?”

“No, it’s fine. Milly is getting coffee and bagels. So, what did you think of my proposal?”

Mary closed her eyes. “I was very excited by what the job would entail,” she said, her mouth dry as cotton.

“And the financial offer?” Hannah probed.

Mary reached for her coffee mug. “That was satisfactory too,” she responded, as rehearsed. She felt like an idiot the moment she said it.

The siren of a firetruck suddenly blared through the speaker. Mary winced. Hannah screamed over the noise, “So you’re taking the job?” 

“Yes!” Mary shouted back.

“Great!” Hannah yelled.

Mary smiled. She had just scored a huge promotion. Excitement was buzzing in her veins.

“Can you come to HQ on Monday?” Hannah asked. The firetruck was finally gone. “I want you to meet Lex asap.”

“Sure,” Mary replied without checking her schedule.

“I’d like you to teach Lex how you run the store.”

Mary grabbed a pen and jotted down ‘Lex.’ “Okay,” she said slowly.

“It’ll be your first challenge on the new job, I guess!” Hannah said, her voice excited.

Mary wrote down ‘first challenge.‘

“Lex is well-qualified, but she needs some of your …,” Hannah started saying, then stopped.

“Thanks, honey,” she whispered. Luckily, this time, Mary immediately realized her boss wasn’t talking to her. She pictured Mildred North handing Hannah a bagel.

“So, as I was saying,” Hannah continued, “Lex will be taking over the store after you leave in a few weeks.”

Mary’s brow shot up. “A few weeks?”

“Yeah, I’d like you to join me at HQ full-time in about a month. Is that okay?”

“Of course,” Mary stammered, rubbing her cheek.

Things were moving a lot faster than she had imagined. She jotted down ‘4 weeks‘ and underscored it a few times.

“I’ll ask Suzy to set up the meeting on Monday,” Hannah said.

Mary switched the phone to her other ear. Her hands were clammy again. “Should I get started on some things?” she asked.

“Yes,” Hannah replied, “Can you prepare some remarks for your team about your promotion? We can go through them together on Monday and get the ball rolling.”

“Alright,” Marry agreed and made some more notes.

“It might also be a good idea to update that presentation you gave last month. The one about the impact your initiatives had on the sales numbers?” Hannah continued. “Lex is going to need some convincing.”

Mary frowned. “Okay, sure.”

“Great! I am so happy you are joining the corp team, Mary,” Hannah gushed. The noise of the traffic around her was getting louder again.

“I am too. Can’t wait!” Mary beamed.

“See you Monday then!”

“Yes!” Mary shouted. “Have a great day!”

“You too!” Hannah yelled back.

Mary ended the call. She blinked while her ears slowly adjusted to the silence of the room.

“Oh shit,” she whispered. “I’m really doing this.”

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